Financial Assistance for Single Mothers in Kentucky

shares

If you are a single mom, life can be tough. Every day seems like a battle just to pay the bills, look after the kids and keep going even when you’re tired. If the kids have health problems or are having trouble at school, there’s no partner at home to share it all with, so you can feel really isolated and alone. Kansas is a beautiful stat, but unless you live in one of the main cities you can also find problems getting around, or getting to know people.

However, there is good news. Single moms and needy families in Kansas can find all sorts of programs in the state that aim to help them. Whether it’s emergency cash, assistance to pay for food, help to find and pay for childcare, healthcare, education or housing, Kansas has schemes that should stop your worries.

Financial Assistance

Cash is always hard to get. No one likes just giving it away! There are a variety of government schemes out there to help needy families. We won’t lie and say there are any sure guarantee’s though, but at the very least you have a fighting chance to get a bit of aid.

You might also want to consider the TANF program. TANF stands for Temporary Financial Assistance for Needy Families, and in Kentucky it is accessed on the link below:

TANF aims to get single moms back into regular work by helping them out financially for up to a couple of years. The allocation per person can’t last more than 2 years though, so think carefully before you apply…once you’ve used your right to TANF, they are gone! The program is a really good help for the right people though, so do check it out.

It’s possible that you have also considered taking out a short term or Payday Loan to tide you over a bad spell. They can work, for some people, but the problem is that they often have a cripplingly high interest rate, and also impose high fines f for any reason you are late with the repayments. If you do want to use one, be sure to do plenty of research first to find a loan that offers a reasonable APR and payment terms.

Food Assistance

Every mother should be able to put nutritious, fresh food on the table to feed herself and her family. Growing children need to eat lots of dairy products to build strong teeth and bones, and they need fresh fruit and vegetables for vitamins too, to help keep them healthy. If you, as a mom, have recently given birth and are breastfeeding your baby, or if you are pregnant, the food you eat is extra important too.

Single moms in Kentucky who are finding it hard to buy the foods they need can get assistance from the state’s Food Benefit Program. Now known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition for Needy People) the scheme supplies eligible applicants with an electronic card and PIN number. You simply take the card to any participating grocery store and it is swiped into a machine to give you cash off your purchases. You can buy most foodstuffs with it, but you can’t use it to purchase tobacco, alcohol or pet food, among other things. Read all about Kentucky’s SNAP here:

http://chfs.ky.gov/dcbs/dfs/foodstampsebt.htm

The WIC program is another worth checking out if you have recently given birth, or are pregnant…or if you have children under the age of 5. Here’s how to apply for aid through this program:

As a single mother, you will always face the dilemma of how to get out to work to earn enough money to feed the family, when at the same time you have to be able to pay the often high cots of reliable child care. It can seem impossible to reconcile the two, at times. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a friend or family member who can look after your children while you go to work or college, you may find help through Kentucky’ Child Care Assistance Program. See what help you can get and check your eligibility here:

http://chfs.ky.gov/dcbs/dcc/ccap.html

If you aren’t eligible for this program, you may be able to find help locally. Getting together with other single moms in your neigborhood might mean you can start up a babysitting circle, or establish a rota for when you are at work, if you work different shifts. If you are a member of a church, religious or ethnic group there may be child care on offers through that too.

Healthcare Assistance

When it comes to health, even the best cared for kids can be a nightmare. Kids not only catch childhood illnesses like measles and mumps, they also climb trees, play on skateboards and do all sorts of things that can lead to accidents. Hopefully these will be minor, but there could be times your child will need to visit a hospital. Then there are those dentist visits, opticians and routine healthcare that everyone needs. None of it is easy to pay for, and health insurance is often very expensive.

If you have a low income, like a lot of single moms, you might be eligible to receive help through Medicaid. All the details you need are found on the link below

When your child goes to college, it’s you that has to foot the bill. Or, if it’s you yourself that needs to go back to school to get more qualifications for a better job, there will b a bill attached for sure. Another expense, another problem for single moms?

Well, it can be a worry, but luckily education is an area that attracts a lot of help, with hundreds of grants, scholarships and loans waiting for you to find them. Scholarships and grants are better than loans, if you can get them, because they don’t have to be paid back in the future.

The fist thing to do is to see if you are eligible for FAFSA. This is a Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The link above takes you to a FAFSA website where you can find out if you are eligible for state help with education, download a form, get help filling it in if necessary, and discover the codes you need to apply for assistance for the college you want to attend. Don’t be afraid to ask if you want to have someone help you fill in the form.

Individual schools and colleges may offer their own scholarships, while there may also be help on offer for students of certain subjects and on professional courses such as nursing.

Yet more help is on offer for certain groups of people. If you or your kids have a disability or illness, search the internet to see if there is any specific assistance available associated with the condition. Sometimes even churches or religious groups offer scholarships to their members, as do some employers.

Finally, some large companies like Coca Cola offer scholarships, as do some celebrities.

Transportation Assistance

You might think that having a car of your own is not possible, if the budget is tight. However, there is a scheme that offers donated cars to eligible individuals, and although you can’t rely on being given one through this, it is certainly worth a look. Do a web search for the donate car program offered by TANF.

You could see if other single parents in the neighbourhood are interested in a car pool or car share, which is a good way to share the expense.

If not, and having a car is not possible, get to know the public transport systems in your town. Buses can be quite cheap to use, and cheaper still if you can buy a season travel pas